Hearths of Fire (20 page)

Charlotte rose from the table and hadn’t even made it to the doorway of the living
room when Mandy appeared, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Her arms were wrapped
around her petite waist as she struggled to keep herself together. Fear consumed Charlotte
that something had been done physically to her sister, but looking her over produced
no evidence. Closing the distance, she wrapped her arms around Mandy while the words
came spilling out.

“Did Garreth hurt you? Did the Ashes hurt you?” Charlotte went to pull away so that
she could see Mandy’s face, but her sister wouldn’t let go as another sob wracked
her body. “Mandy, you need to tell me what happened.”

“Y-you were right,” Mandy cried, shaking her head against Charlotte’s neck. “He d-doesn’t
love me. He only p-pretended because he thinks I’m the one his parents want.”

Charlotte was relatively sure she’d never felt such relief wash over her body before
and closed her eyes in gratitude that Mandy finally could see through the smoke and
mirrors. Charlotte led her back through the doorframe and into the living room, where
they sat on the couch. She kept her arm around Mandy, rubbing her arm in consolation,
and also resting her chin on her sister’s head.

Mandy’s pain was more than palpable but the only thing Charlotte could do was sit
and listen. A good five minutes passed with no words being exchanged. Her emotions
needed an outlet and Charlotte needed the time to formulate words that Mandy would
be able to hear right now.
I told you so
wasn’t appropriate nor was it warranted.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Charlotte asked, keeping her voice low and
soothing. She remembered what she felt like after having left Neal at the altar. Just
because she’d been the one to break things off between them didn’t mean she hadn’t
been devastated by her decision. A thought crossed her mind. “How did you get home?”

“I took Garreth’s c-car.” Mandy was finally catching her breath and pulled away slightly
to lean her head back against the couch as the emotional exhaustion settled into her
body. “You were right. You, Neal, my friends…I d-didn’t want to believe you.”

Charlotte turned slightly so that she could put her elbow on the back of the couch
and face Mandy. She had cried so hard that she still had tiny hiccups every now and
then, as well as her eyes now being bloodshot. Her lashes looked darker in color from
the tears that soaked them and she had streaks in her make-up. She was still a beautiful
young woman.

“Does Garreth know you left?” Charlotte felt she needed to ask that question, especially
if he was going to come knocking on the door. She resisted the urge to call Neal,
not knowing if he was still at the compound. She also didn’t want to get into a confrontation
with Garreth Ashe. “Did the two of you exchange words?”

“I don’t want to talk to h-him,” Mandy said defensively, shaking her head to back
up her statement. She turned to look at Charlotte with pain-filled eyes, but she was
slowly gaining back her composure. “The service had ended and I needed to use the
restroom. While I was in there two women came in and were talking about how they didn’t
think I was the
one
. That the only reason Garreth had chosen me was because of his parents.”

Another round of tears appeared and Mandy covered her face with her palms as if that
would keep them at bay. Charlotte considered herself a reasonable woman and had this
been any other boy in any other situation, she would have said that gossip wasn’t
necessarily the truth. In this case…

“No wonder he didn’t want to make love,” Mandy declared, wiping the tears from her
cheeks as she sat up a little straighter. Charlotte would rather not have had
this
particular topic come up in the conversation, but it went hand in hand. “He was only
with me because of Mr. and Mrs. Ashe. He wasn’t attracted to me—he didn’t even like
me. I was a way to make his parents happy.”

“Mandy, you are a beautiful and intelligent young woman that any man would be proud
to have on his arm,” Charlotte assured her, reaching over to tuck a strand of hair
behind her sister’s ear. How could one be so innocent and naïve? And how did one protect
a person like that? “These people know how to manipulate. They know who to target
and who is malleable enough to bring into their midst. This has nothing to do with
you as a person so much as it does that you share Garreth’s birthday. The Ashes have
twisted that in their minds to mean something and they did everything they could to
influence you.”

“What do our birthdays have anything to do with this?” Mandy pulled her feet up onto
the couch and wrapped her arms around her legs as if that would ward off what Charlotte
was about to confess. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Honey, I’ve told you all along that something wasn’t right with whatever goes on
within the confines of that compound.” Charlotte rubbed her forehead, feeling the
beginnings of a headache forming. She and Mandy would both need some ibuprofen by
the time the day was through. “The night before Becky went missing she told me that
she’d overheard Garreth talking about a ritual on Halloween night. When Neal and I
visited with Robert and Patricia, they mentioned that the two of you were destined
to be together.”

“I didn’t think Becky heard it correctly.” Anger laced Mandy’s tone. Charlotte took
a steadying breath, knowing that Mandy’s emotions were all over the place. It wouldn’t
do to get into an argument over past mistakes. “But you still don’t think Garreth
had anything to do with Becky going missing, do you? Just because he wants to please
his parents doesn’t mean he’d hurt someone.”

Charlotte gritted her teeth together, doing her best not to yell at Mandy and make
the situation worse. Even when Mandy’s heart was breaking in two she still defended
Garreth. Her reaction told Charlotte that it would take something as little as an
apology for Garreth to bring her back into their fold. Charlotte worded her next question
carefully.

“If Becky had convinced you of what she overheard, would that have made a difference?”
Charlotte could see the doubt that crossed her sister’s pale features and decided
to keep going with this direction. “We’ve all been telling you something is terribly
wrong with Garreth and his family. Members have been loitering around the town…just
standing there and watching. They’ve been watching the
house
, Mandy. There was no point in telling you anything because you would have just come
up with an excuse. Do I think the Ashes are responsible for Becky’s disappearance?
Yes, I do. I think they didn’t want her going to the sheriff or convincing you of
breaking things off with their son. Do I think Garreth knows about it? Honestly, I
don’t know. I don’t have any evidence. What I do know is that—”

The sound of a car door slamming had both of them turning to look out the window.
Garreth was using one of the Ashes to Dirt’s vans that they would herd people into
town with every now and then. The anger on his face was evident through the sheer
curtains but before he could even step a foot on the sidewalk leading up to the house,
Charlotte quickly ran to the kitchen to obtain the weapon that Neal had left her with
this morning. Her father had been a deer hunter, like most of the men in this town,
and had shown her at a young age how to use a rifle. Neal had given her the rundown
on Dad’s old Remington Sportsman 78 this morning. He had said that the .308 cartridge
was enough to stop any man dead in his tracks. Aim, press the safety forward, and
squeeze the trigger.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mandy asked in alarm, standing at the sight of the
deadly firearm.

“He’s not coming in here, Mandy.” Charlotte went to the door and saw that her sister
hadn’t locked it when she’d come in earlier. Charlotte swiftly turned the deadbolt
at the exact moment Garreth’s feet landed on the porch. The heavy pounding of his
fist against the door reverberated through the living room, even taking Mandy by surprise.
Charlotte lifted one eyebrow in question and Mandy nodded slightly in agreement with
how Charlotte wanted to handle this situation. “Go to the kitchen.”

“Mandy, I know you’re in there,” Garreth yelled through the door, banging once more.
“Mandy!”

“She doesn’t want to speak to you right now, Garreth,” Charlotte said loudly, ensuring
that her firm words carried through the wood. She kept the weapon pointed down at
her side. “She’ll call you when she’s ready to talk.”

“I want to talk to her now. I don’t know what Mandy thinks she overheard, but it’s
wrong.”

Charlotte wasn’t going to go into the fact that his declaration made no sense at all
since it would only antagonize him further. Her number one priority was getting Garreth
to leave the property and if he didn’t do that in ten seconds, she was calling the
sheriff.

“You need to give her time, Garreth.” Charlotte mentally counted down the seconds.
“Go back home and Mandy will call you when she’s had time to think things through.”

“Open the damned door, you bitch.” Garreth hit the door so hard with his fist that
Charlotte jumped back, not sure that the hinges would hold. She reached over to the
side table for the phone and punched in the necessary numbers without once sparing
a glance Mandy’s way. “You’ve tried to keep us apart from the beginning.”

“Nadine, it’s Charlotte Whitefall. I need you to send the sheriff to my house. Garreth
Ashe won’t leave my property.” Charlotte listened as the older woman said she’d have
a deputy there in two minutes. Hanging up and tossing the landline phone onto the
couch, she raised her voice. “Garreth, the police are on their way. I suggest you
leave before you get arrested.”

“Charlotte,” Mandy whispered, pointing toward the window and through the sheer curtains
with a trembling finger. “Neal is here. I-I know what Garreth is doing is wrong…but
please don’t let Neal hurt him.”

‡

N
eal had decided
to take a pass by Charlotte’s house on his way to see the sheriff. Armed with the
information the old man had told him, Becky Garson was somewhere on that property—most
likely in the makeshift church—and the sheriff needed to conduct a legal search as
soon as possible. All Neal had wanted to do was ensure himself that Charlotte was
all right before he was caught up with all of the bureaucracy of the justice system.
It would take a couple of hours before the judge even signed off on something like
this. He hadn’t expected to see Garreth Ashe standing on the porch and pounding his
fist against the door.

“These fucking people just won’t go away,” Neal muttered under his breath as he pulled
his truck to the curb and slammed the gear into park. He didn’t waste time getting
out and rushing up the walkway. A cursory glance at the van hadn’t revealed Mandy
and Neal wondered where she was. “Ashe, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The young man who looked anything but composed spun on his heel, his dark eyes black
with anger and his mouth pulled tight in firm line. The control Garreth usually exhibited
was nowhere to be found and Neal tensed for where this situation might lead. It was
unfortunate that he was still considered a juvenile. Neal’s hands were tied to a certain
extent, but he’d be damned if Garreth was allowed access to Charlotte.

“I need to talk to Mandy.” Garreth’s arms were at his sides, but his hands were curled
into fists. Neal took up a position a few steps away so not as to be caught off guard
should Garreth come at him. His response answered Neal’s question about Mandy though.
“She overheard something that wasn’t true. I need to tell her that.”

“If Mandy wanted to speak with you she’d open the door.” Neal didn’t know what had
taken place, but if Mandy was hiding inside, it was for a damned good reason. “There
are times it’s best that we give women their space. If she needs to sort through something
the best thing for you to do is give her that.”

“But she—”

Garreth’s words were cut off by the siren of a police cruiser, bringing both of their
attention to the patrol car that pulled up behind Neal’s truck. It was Deputy Bryan.
The man did his job efficiently and Neal conceded that it was probably a good thing
he showed up when he did. But that brought to question who had called him.

“Garreth, how long have been here?”

“I just wanted to talk with Mandy,” Garreth said in defense of his actions. Neal cautiously
walked around the young man whose eyes were glued to the uniformed officer walking
up the lane. He quietly rapped his knuckles on the door and called out Charlotte’s
name. Technically he could have used his key but if she’d been defending herself and
Mandy, he’d bet all the money in his wallet that she had her dad’s gun in her possession.
Garreth started talking with the deputy as Charlotte slowly opened the door. “I didn’t
do anything wrong.”

“Char, are you okay?” Neal asked, looking her over from head to toe. She appeared
just as beautiful as when he’d left this morning, with the exception of the weapon
in her grip. He nodded his head toward it and continued talking in a low voice so
the deputy didn’t overhear him. “Go put that in a safe place and then come back out
onto the porch while we take care of this. Tell Mandy to stay inside.”